The Government has broken its promise to keep New Zealand’s Iraq deployment to two years, putting our troops in further danger, the Green Party said today. This afternoon the Government announced that it would be extending the mandate and the length of the current NZDF deployment to Iraq until November 2018. “A hundred thousand people are fleeing Fallujah and humanitarian agencies are overwhelmed. New Zealand should be contributing the $50 million that has now been committed to this deployment to...

Today’s GDP numbers fail to capture the increasing numbers of families sleeping in cars and declining water quality in our rivers and lakes, the Green Party said today. Gross domestic product (GDP) statistics released today by Statistics New Zealand show that the economy grew by 0.7 percent in the March 2016 quarter, but only grew 0.1 percent when population increases were accounted for. “Once increasing population pressures are factored in, the economy grew by just 0.1 percent this quarter,” said...

The National Government’s failure to fix the Auckland housing crisis continues to keep interest rates higher than they need to be, meaning families and businesses face higher than necessary costs of borrowing, the Green Party said today. The Reserve Bank today left the Official Cash Rate unchanged at 2.25 percent despite economic conditions that favour lowering the rate, citing risks to the economy from high house prices and a lack of housing supply. “National’s failure to fix the Auckland housing...

The National Government has been caught spending billions of dollars of public money on motorway projects without measuring the impacts these major infrastructure investments will have on the climate, the Green Party said today. Information received under the Official Information Act shows that the Government has done no analysis on the likely impacts its $30 billion spend on transport infrastructure will have on climate pollution. “The National Government is pumping billions of dollars of public money into motorways without a...

Kia tau te rangimārie o te Rangi e tū nei o Papatūānuku e takoto nei o te Taiao e awhi nei ki runga i a tātou. Tīhei mauri ora! He mihi nui ki ngā mana whenua o tēnei takiwā, Ngāi Tahu, Tuahuriri, tēnā koutou katoa mō tō manaakitanga.                                                                 ...

Green Party Co-leader James Shaw has told the Green Party AGM that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Labour Party signed this week increases the chances of changing the Government at the next election. The Green Party is holding its AGM in Christchurch this weekend and includes a keynote speech from Labour leader Andrew Little on Saturday, and the launch of a new environment campaign on Sunday. “As of today we are in campaign mode. We have 18 months...

The Prime Minister should apologise for misleading the country about the Ministry of Social Development’s interactions with homeless people in south Auckland, the Green Party said today. “John’s Key’s attempt to distract New Zealanders from the Government’s housing failures has threatened the great work that the Salvation Army does with homeless families,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “He went out of his way to try to make these homeless people look bad by saying they declined Government help –...

Auckland's housing crisis will never be fixed unless the Government stops blaming the Council and starts taking the steps it can to solve it, the Green Party says. Finance Minister Bill English has ramped up his attacks on the Auckland  Council this weekend, putting the sole blame for Auckland's housing crisis on the Council's difficulties freeing up land. "The Finance Minister's attacks on Auckland Council this weekend are an excuse not to take responsibility for his own Governments failures," Green...

The Government has clearly signalled that tax cuts next year are more important than trying to fix the big issues we’re facing today, like the housing crisis, the Green Party said today. “This Government is more interested in getting re-elected than showing real leadership and vision for our country,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “Auckland is bursting at the seams – it desperately needs more houses and more investment in its infrastructure -- but this Budget offers neither of...

The Government’s visionless budget has failed to deliver the big solutions to the housing crisis and climate change New Zealanders want and instead is plastering over the cracks, says the Green Party. “This do nothing budget will leave a legacy of more poisoned rivers, more extinct wildlife, and a nation divided into those who own a home already, and those left further behind,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “National has been blindsided on housing. The Budget doesn’t respond at...